1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an aromatic salicylate process comprising contacting a phenol, carbon monoxide, a base, a Group VIIIB element selected from ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, osmium, iridium or platinum and recovering at least a portion of an aromatic salicylate.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A. J. Chalk recognized--as broadly disclosed in the Chalk patent applications referenced herein--that aromatic carbonates can be prepared by contacting a phenol, carbon monoxide, a base, and a Group VIIIB element selected from ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, osmium, iridium or platinum having an oxidation state greater than zero.
Although A. J. Chalk recognized that aromatic carbonates could be formed, Chalk did not recognize that under some process parameters encompassed by Chalk's aromatic carbonate process not only where aromatic carbonates formed but concurrently aromatic salicylates were also formed.